You're All I Have
by darktwistygirl
Summary: Recently transferred from Boston, Detective Meredith Grey is partnered with fellow detective Derek Shepherd, which leads to a friendship that grows stronger. MerDer AU
1. One Last Time For You

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to my new story You're All I Have. A few things you should know are that Ellis never had Alzheimer's and never left Thatcher. Lexie never died and is a troubled high school student dating Jackson living in Boston. Meredith is a Third Grade Detective from Boston transferred to New York partnered with Derek who is a Second Grade Detective at the New York Police Department. Couples will be besides obviously MerDer, Crowen, Calzona and maybe Slexie. Owen is a Sergeant while Callie, Arizona, and Mark are Second Grade Detectives. Cristina is the precinct's attorney. Here is the prologue.**

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Grey's. If I did, Lexie would not have died and Mark would not leave after the first two episodes next season and gotten back together with Lexie.**

**Song-Run-Snow Patrol**

Lyric- One Last Time For You

Blood, there was blood everywhere. All Derek Shepherd could remember about the last three hours was the gun going off and the blood. The blood wasn't coming from him it was coming from his partner and the love of his life, Meredith Grey, bleeding out on the floor of their perp, Gary Clark's apartment. His head was spinning and all he could hear was Sergeant Owen Hunt's voice saying, "Come on Meredith, breathe. Cristina needs you, Derek needs you. If you are seeing that big, warm inviting light don't go into that," starting CPR and telling Callie to call 911, before his old shoulder injury starting hurting, as much as he tried to fight through the pain, the pain was too intense for him to keep going.

"Shepherd," was all Derek needed to hear from his friend, before he jumped in and started CPR on Meredith, and even continued even after Clark said, "Stop reviving her or I swear to God, I will shoot you too."

After the paramedics arrived, Derek stood where he was frozen, staring at Clark, before he picked up his gun, pointed it at Clark and shot.

At the hospital, Second Grade Detective Mark Sloan, Derek's best friend was standing in the waiting room.

"Is it true," he said, "About Meredith? Did she actually get shot or did Torres call me here call me here as a joke."

Voice breaking, Derek nodded and said, "It's true," before collapsing in Mark's arms, sobbing. Once he composed himself he asked, "Where is Cristina, considering the fact that her person is in the hospital.

"Still in court and she will be here in a few hours."

Derek nodded and was going to say something else, but Ellis, Thatcher, and Lexie walked into the waiting room, interrupting his thoughts.

As this was going on all Meredith could see was the darkness fading in and noticing a big, white light that she found herself walking into.

**If you're confused right now, things will be explained as this story goes on. For one thing, I'm not going to kill Meredith. This will happen later on in the story, I understand this is really short, but chapters will get longer as this story goes on. Review please.**


	2. The Roads We Have To Walk Are Winding

**AN: I'm floored by the response that I got from the prologue. The events leading up to and the actual prologue are a ways away, so please bear with me as this story becomes Law and Order: Grey's Anatomy. Thank you guys so much and enjoy the chapter.**

**Mer: No, I'm not going to kill Meredith, I even mentioned in my AN at the end of the prologue.**

**MerDerfan1: Glad I caught your attention; I didn't know stories could talk.**

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Grey's. If I did, Lexie would not have died and Mark would not leave after the first two episodes next season and gotten back together with Lexie.**

**Song- Wonderwall- Oasis**

**Lyric- The Roads We Have To Walk Are Winding**

_Seven months earlier_

Derek Shepherd sat in the precinct awaiting the arrival of his new partner, Detective Meredith Grey from the Boston Police Department. From what he had heard about her, she seemed capable of filling Addison's role as his partner. He dated Addison for a year and worked with her for two years before they eventually started dating, but she had left him to work in Los Angeles for personal reasons that he was not informed about two weeks earlier. His thoughts were broken by the arrival of Meredith two minutes later.

"I take it you are Detective Meredith Grey from Boston. If you are then, Derek Shepherd, we are going to be working together," Derek said, smiling at her.

"Yes I'm Meredith Grey, nice to meet you. Where can we get some coffee," Meredith replied.

"Right over here," Derek replied, directing Meredith to the coffee, where two other detectives, Mark Sloan and Callie Torres were standing. At the same time, the phone rang and Derek answered it.

"Hi," Callie said, sipping her coffee and directing her attention from the blonde she was staring at to Meredith. "Detective Callie Torres and this is Detective Mark Sloan, precinct manwhore and one of my closest friends."

"Meredith Grey, I just transferred here from Boston," Meredith replied, shaking Callie's hand.

"You do realize I am standing right here, coming from the girl who uses these coffee breaks to stare at Robbins from Special Victims, just go up to her and say that you want to get drinks with her sometime after work," Mark said, turning to Callie.

"I do not use this time to stare at Arizona, I just- ok- you're right. I plan on asking her out tonight," Callie replied, grabbing another cup of coffee.

"You said that yesterday and the day before that, and pretty much every day this week. Then again after Erica-"

"Don't- don't mention her," Callie said, cutting Mark off.

"Detective Grey, we just got a call about a crime scene they need to check out," Derek said, walking up to the coffee machine. He turned to Callie and said, "I have to agree with Mark on this one, you kind of do use this time to stare at Arizona."

Callie rolled her eyes and headed back to her desk, taking the coffee with her, while Meredith and Derek walked out the door and drove to the crime scene.

-YAIH-

"Riley Martin, twenty two years old found on the side of the road. Cause of death, multiple stab wounds, her boyfriend reported her missing after she didn't show up at his house two days earlier for their date," said one the people from the crime lab.

"I take it she got dumped," Derek said, using a typical crime drama one-liner.

Ignoring Derek, Meredith asked, "Has her boyfriend been questioned yet?"

"No, but here is his address."

-YAIH-

"Caleb Perry, Detectives Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd from the NYPD," Meredith said, walking into Caleb's apartment.

"Is this about Riley, is she dead. If she is then I have nothing to do with that. If you are looking for someone try her roommate," Caleb replied, sitting on the couch.

"Unfortunately, Riley's body was found this morning on the side on the road and you are the one who reported her missing," Derek said, joining Caleb on the couch.

"Oh God, I didn't think that Taylor would kill or have someone kill Riley," Caleb said.

"Taylor?" Meredith asked, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Her roommate who was crazier than the one from that movie. She tried to frame Riley for cheating on one of the exams, started a rumor that she was pregnant and made it look like I was hitting on her when I came over to pick her up for a date. If you are wondering what her name is, its Taylor Marshall. Red hair, green eyes, wears tons of eye makeup."

"Do you think she would have it in her to kill her?"

"I doubt it that Taylor would do it, that's not ruling out the possibility that she might have hired someone to do it. The last I heard from Riley is that she texted me last night that she just about done getting ready for our date and would be here in 45 minutes, but she had to stop and get gas on her way here and was pissed about the fact she was still on probation for fighting with Taylor. So after two hours of waiting for her here, I called the police and now she's dead before I got a chance to propose. I can give you the address of the dorms."

"Thank you, Caleb. We will find out who did this," Derek said, standing up and following Meredith out of the house.

-YAIH-

"Do you think all those stab wounds could be caused by one person?" Meredith asked on the drive to the Yale campus, after getting the warrant to search the dorms.

"From what Caleb said, she just seems like an insecure girl who was the ruler of her high school and wants to keep it that way. If it isn't her then we're going to be back at square one. I think that Caleb might be right on this, however. I'm not jumping to conclusions, but I've seen cases where people like her are capable of murder or hiring someone to commit murder," Derek replied.

"Yeah you might be right on that, but we should get her side of the story and then go from there."

Derek smiled to himself, thinking that Meredith was nothing like Addison. Addison would jump to conclusions and make the arrest without taking a step back and analyzing the situation. They had been partners for only one day and Derek realized that there was a connection between them, also realizing that if they dated she could leave him or die like Addison or Nelson.

Noticing the smile on her partners face, Meredith gave in and started to smile herself and asked Derek, "What are you thinking about?" chuckling slightly.

"You, but in a friendly way, but it's not anything sexual."

"Right," Meredith said, laughing to herself as Derek entered the Yale parking lot.

-YAIH-

"NYPD, we have a legal warrant to search your dorm," Meredith said, walking into the dorm and started looking around for evidence.

"What- what is this," Taylor asked, slightly freaking out.

"Murder, the name Riley Martin sound familiar to you," Derek said.

"That bitch, who deserved to die the way she did, but I have nothing to do with it," the redhead's voice rising. "I was framed."

"By who?" Meredith asked, noticing the bloody pocket knife nearby.

"I don't know. I was out at a club last night, I think that someone came in here after killing her and set me up."

"Or you hired someone to do this so you literally wouldn't get blood on your hands. Speaking of, put those behind your back. Taylor Marshall, you are under arrest for the murder of Riley Martin. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be held against you in a count of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be present at the trial. Do you understand these rights that I have read to you?" Meredith said to Taylor.

The redhead nodded and protested the entire drive to the precinct.

-YAIH-

"Ok, Detective Shepherd, do you want bad news or the really bad news," Derek said, hanging up the phone.

"Since they are both bad, I'll take the bad news," replied Meredith.

"Taylor's alibi checks out, she didn't kill Riley and Mark and Callie interviewed Caleb again and he is innocent, so we are pretty much back at square one again. Since we're going to be working together, we all should be on a first name basis, but only go back to Detective Grey or Shepherd when shit gets real."

"I like that idea," Meredith said, being interrupted by the ringing of the squad room phone. "This is Detective Grey. Oh My God, Detective Shepherd and I will be there as soon as we can."

"What was that all about?"

"Taylor's body was just found the same way as Riley was killed. This is not a random act of violence; we have a serial killer on our hands."

**Dun, Dun, Dun. So much for an open and shut case, I'll update soon as I get two chapters of Decode done and posted. If you have been reading Decode expect another update soon. Reviews are welcome.**


	3. Author's Note

Sorry for the typos I'm on my iPad and the fact this is an authors note after not a month of updating.

I just want to let you guys know I'm not dead, just school got in the way, writers block happened, and my Internet privileges got revoked and won't be back for some time (long story), but I leave you this, I wrote the prologue and you'll hate me after you read it.

Oh and readers of Decode, I removed on my own terms because I'm doing a rewrite of it with a new title, Broken Frames. Look for it, I'm not quite sure when.

Love you guys and bare with me throughout this time

Kate


	4. A Twist In My Story

**AN: I'm back everyone after a little less than three months and I owe all of you an explanation. It took bad grades (blame the magical reset button at the beginning of every quarter) and spraining my ankle before creative juices kicked in after I got my computer back to bring you this chapter. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and added this story to your alerts so far, you have no idea how much that means to me. This chapter has a lot of MerDer fluff and from what my plans say, the next one will too. As for them becoming a couple, trust me that is going to happen in the next couple chapters. Starting next chapter onward, the AN's will be at the end of the chapter rather than the beginning because I would rather write one long one than two short ones.**

**Emerald. City. Bar.: Glad you like the idea of Grey's as a cop drama. I do too.**

"Hang on, what about Taylor?" asked Meredith.

"Taylor is dead, gone, chilling with Jesus. I can go on all day with the euphemisms. The point is, we have no leads on this case," replied Derek.

"Great, so much for an open and shut case," Meredith started to say before her phone rang. Stepping out of the room, she pressed the button to answer the phone.

"Lexie, I'm at work. It's not like I can talk to you right now."

"Meredith, this is important. It's about Dad," Lexie said, sounding frantic.

"Why what's going on with him. He isn't drinking again, is he?"

"No, nothing like that. He's just acting weird. I think he might be cheating on Mom."

"Lexie, Dad would never do that. Did he ever tell you about his first wife, Susan?"

"No, did she cheat on him."

"Yeah, with a mutual friend of theirs."

"When did he tell you this?"

"Do you remember Paul, that guy I dated in high school? Well, he cheated on me and Dad told me that story because naturally Mom wasn't home to dish out motherly advice."

"Wasn't Paul the guy you lost your virginity to?"

"How did you figure that out?"

"Photographic memory and guess what, Jackson did the exact same thing to me, which explains my paranoia."

"I hate your photographic memory sometimes and Jackson cheated on you, I knew I didn't like him, and don't care that he's like us, he had no right to do that to you. That's my rant for the day, I have to go and I will call you later on tonight."

"Ok, you're more entertaining than studying for a Spanish quiz," Lexie said before hanging up.

"Who was that," asked Derek, when Meredith walked back into the squad room.

"My sister, who lives in Boston with the rest of my family, calling about family drama," replied Meredith.

"Trust me; I know a lot about family drama. If you looked up family drama in the dictionary, you would find a picture of my youngest sister."

Nodding, Meredith replied, "I have to go, there is some stuff going on at my house, called dinner and hanging out with my cat," grabbing her jacket and walking out the door.

-YAIH-

"What do we got," Meredith said to the blonde that was standing at the crime scene they were called to the next day.

"Twelve year old, Nicole Jacobson, the girl who went missing from her house two nights ago. Her younger brother was found wondering the streets looking for her. The mom reported her missing, but I'm not taking any chances on her," the blonde said.

"What the hell happened to the body?" asked Derek, noticing the mutilated corpse.

"A combine driver ran her over, which is how we found the body."

"Wow, how long did it to get her out?"

"A couple hours, it was a very disturbing sight to say the least."

"Thanks Detective Stevens."

"You're welcome, Detective Shepherd and Detective Grey."

After leaving the crime scene, Meredith asked, "Who was that?"

"Izzie Stevens, she's new here like you are. She hangs around the crime lab and is partnered with Detective Alex Karev," replied Derek, opening the squad car door for Meredith.

"Thanks Derek for proving that chivalry is not dead," Meredith said, with a small smile.

"I learned from my father. When you're the only boy out of five kids, it's fairly understandable you learn how to treat a girl."

"Aw, remind me to thank your father if I ever get the chance to meet him."

"Yeah about that," Derek taking, taking a deep breath. "He's dead; two guys shot him for his watch when I was eleven. If I wasn't holding my youngest sister back, let's not get into what I would have done to them, despite the fact they were armed and dangerous."

"Derek, that's I don't even know how to describe. I'm not very close to my parents, my mom was always working and hated and still hates the fact I went into law enforcement instead of becoming a surgeon like her. My dad and I were really close, but lately according to Lexie, he's been acting weird, so she thinks he's either having an affair or drinking again, which was why she called me last night. He used to drink a lot when he found out about an affair his ex-wife, Susan had. Thanks to an intervention my mom, me, Lexie and one of his friends, Gary Clark, he sobered up."

Derek was going to say something, but the next thing they both knew, they were at the Jacobson residence.

"Mrs. Jacobson," Meredith said, knocking on the door. "This is the NYPD; can you please open the door?"

After a few minutes, the door was opened by a women appearing to be in her late 30's with curly brown hair pulled up in a loose bun looking exhausted. "Is this about my little girl, is she alive?"

"Mrs. Jacobson, you may need to sit down for this on," Derek said, his face looking grim.

"She's dead isn't she?" Mrs. Jacobson said, with a shaking voice as she looked at Meredith and Derek's grim faces.

"As much as this hurts me to say, she is," Meredith managed to say after a moment of silence.

-YAIH-

After consoling the grief stricken woman, Meredith and Derek found themselves back the precinct, going over the evidence for both of the cases, when someone walked in, saying, "Grey, Shepherd, Webber and Hunt want to see you."

**Sorry for the cliché ending. I promise that the next chapter will be up quicker, with school and my lack of internet privileges taking up all my time, it won't be for some time. I can guarantee that I will be sticking with this story until the end, and then I will start focusing on another story. That story is**

**Ashes and Wine**

**Pairing: Calzona**

**Summary: Tragedy was what ripped Callie and Arizona apart three years earlier. Following another tragedy, they are pushed back together. Will their relationship survive or was the separation too much for them to bear?**

**Look for that story, sometime this winter. As for this story, leave a review. **


	5. I Will Possess Your Heart

**Disclaimer that I keep forgetting to put: I do not own Grey's Anatomy. All recognizable characters that are probably horribly out of character belong to Shonda and the powers that be that run ABC. I do however own all the OC's that show up and the unintended rhyme in the previous sentence.**

Meredith and Derek stood up and walked into the squad room, anxious about what was going on.

"Can I get everyone's attention please," Richard said, addressing the crowd. "As you all know, I'm retiring in a few months so I need to choose a replacement captain in order to take the lead on all current cases in the homicide department until I leave. I will still be here just not working on as many cases. Without further ado, can Owen Hunt please join me up here because he is the new captain of the NYPD Homicide Unit," Richard said, motioning for Owen to join him where he was standing.

Reasonably shocked, Owen walked to where Richard was, shook his hand and began to say. "Wow," he began to say, "I just want to say thank you, Richard, for choosing me as the new captain and for everything you have done for this unit," he said, running a hand through his hair.

When he finished, he immediately began talking to a women with black, curly hair, who looked a lot like Cristina Yang, one of Meredith's best friends from Boston, who was the Boston Police Department's Assistant District Attorney which was ran by Bureau Chief ADA Preston Burke, Cristina's boyfriend.

"Meredith," Cristina said, surprised to see her best friend, even though she knew about and was a witness to the reason why they both had transferred from Boston to New York.

"Cristina, hi," Meredith said, giving her best friend a hug.

"You realize this is considered hugging," Cristina said, breaking the hug.

"Shut up, I'm your person and I haven't seen you since I left Boston after well you know."

"Yeah, Burke and I broke up."

"What why, you guys seemed happy when I last saw you."

"Yeah not so much. Anyway, I broke up with him, resigned from Boston's office and transferred here."

"That's great. I haven't talked to you since I left Boston and hopefully Burke took the news of you leaving better than Parker did me leaving. He even said, just because you couldn't save Reed Adamson, Charles Percy, Sadie Harris, and Dylan Young, it doesn't mean that you could just leave. Then he said something about him losing his best detective and then I just resigned and left the next day."

Silence grew and Meredith directed Cristina to the coffee stand after she said that she needed some and grabbed herself a cup. At the coffee stand, Cristina struck up a conversation with Teddy Altman, Bureau Chief Assistant District Attorney for the Manhattan District Attorney office. Meredith had only spoken to Teddy once or twice in the three weeks that she had been at the NYPD, but she was able to gather that she was close friends with Arizona Robbins, who had transferred to the Homicide department a few days earlier and was working with Callie.

"Hey Meredith, there is someone here to see you," Derek said, joining the conversation.

"Ok," Meredith said, her voice dripping with uncertainty. Cristina remained where she was, drinking her coffee before she started talking to Derek. "Cristina Yang," she said, "Nice to meet you, I've been Meredith's best friend since we were both in high school and I can tell that you have a thing for her."

"Derek Shepherd," Derek replied, shaking hands with Cristina and thinking, "_How did she figure that out?"_

Meredith returned to the conversation, although she had a brunette girl following her closely. "Hey Derek, this is Lexie, my sister who I forgot was staying with me over her Christmas break."

"So that's the guy you're working with." Lexie said, shaking hands with Derek before checking her phone.

"You told her about me?"

"I might have mentioned a few things. Lexie, are you fine with being here on your own because Derek and I have a suspect to talk to and we don't know how long it will take."

"Yeah, but can I run to your apartment and drop my stuff off?"

"Yeah, do you have your car with you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not comfortable going there by myself in a city as big as New York."

"Ok, are you okay with Detective Sloan going with you?"

Lexie nodded and after Meredith informed Mark about what was going on, the two of them left the precinct.

"I probably should have told you about Mark," Derek said as Meredith and he were walking to the interrogation room.

"What about him. Please tell me that I didn't send my sister with some kind of rapist," Meredith said, her voice sounding slightly nervous.

"He's a kind of manwhore, but not a rapist. How old is Lexie?"

"Seventeen, so she is at the legal age."

Feeling an awkward silence, Derek opened the door to the interrogation room and Meredith and he walked in.

-YAIH-

"I'll drive," Mark said, opening Lexie's car's door for her.

"It's my car, but you seem nice, so I will let this slide and you're a cop and that means you can speed because I'm pretty sure my car needs gas," Lexie replied, getting into the passenger side of her car.

"Yeah, so you're in high school and as for the gas, your tank is about half full," Mark replied.

"Yeah, but I'm graduating this year."

"So that makes you a senior."

"Yeah and I'm seventeen. I skipped third grade because of my photographic memory."

"I wish I had one, but I'm just stuck with a regular memory of forgetting why I walked into somewhere."

Lexie laughed and checked her phone noticing a text from Jackson, saying, "Can we talk?"

She replied, "What is there to talk about. I have nothing left to say to you and April. I trusted you both and you both screwed me over so don't call or text me until we can meet to talk when I get back," placing her phone back in her pocket and stared out the window. Her phone buzzed again, yet she ignored it.

"You might want to answer that," Mark said, interrupting her thoughts as he pulled into Meredith's apartment's driveway.

"The thing is, I don't," Lexie said, stepping out of the car.

"Ok, what's going on? I know we just met and all, but as your sister's partners best friend, you can trust me," Mark said, after he stepped out of the car.

Lexie didn't answer his question until they got into Meredith's apartment. "Boyfriend issues. We got in a fight one night a couple months ago and it turns out he slept with one of my friends, and it's just been drama between us ever since. Even after I broke up with him, he still won't stop texting me."

"That sucks," Mark said, before pulling Lexie in for a hug and without even thinking kissed her, catching the seventeen year old by surprise. Breaking the kiss, Lexie said, "Detective Sloan we can't be doing this. I'm still in high school and live four hours away, not to mention Meredith would kill me if she found out."

"Sorry, I didn't even think about that and please call me Mark."

"It's okay and for the record, I enjoyed the kiss," Lexie replied, kissing Mark again.

This time it was Mark who broke the kiss, "Lexie, I'm the same age as your sister and you're seventeen."

"Mark," Lexie said, chuckling. "You probably should know that I don't play by the rules, and even though I just met you I can tell that you like me. It's okay, I'm seventeen, which after doing some research I found out that it is the age of consent in New York. So teach me,"she said, taking off her shirt and bra, letting it fall off of her shoulders and onto the floor.

With that, Mark kissed her again, sliding his tongue into her mouth as his hands moved up and down her body toward Meredith's guest room where she was staying.

-YAIH-

"How long was that before she lawyered up?" Meredith asked, stepping out of the interrogation room.

"Several hours and she said nothing. I have a feeling that these cases are about to go cold because this could have been our only lead," Derek replied.

"With that, I'm going to head out, it's been a long day and I'm tired. See you tomorrow, Derek."

"See you. _Is it really that obvious that I have feelings for her_," Derek thought before heading out to his car.

-YAIH-

"That was, shit, I can't even talk right now that was so amazing. Not to kill the mood, but where do we go from here as for us. Is it just a onetime sex thing or what is this?" Lexie asked, snuggling up to Mark's chest.

"I honestly cannot answer that question at the moment, but there is the whole issue that you mentioned earlier of you living four hours away, the age difference between us and the fact that Meredith and Derek would kill us if they found out," Mark replied, handing Lexie her phone because Meredith had texted her saying that she was on her way home.

"Yeah," Lexie started to say, but grew quiet when she heard keys jiggling in the lock.

"What do I do?" Mark whispered.

"Hide in the bathroom," Lexie replied, hiding under a blanket, hearing Mark run into the bathroom, his clothes still on the floor of her bedroom.

"Lexie, I'm home and I have Chinese for dinner," Lexie heard Meredith say as she walked into her room.

"Awesome," Lexie said, not leaving where she was on the bed, flinching when Meredith turned the light on.

"Are you naked under here, was I interrupting anything?" Meredith asked, noticing the clothes on the floor. "I'm going to use the bathroom anyway."

"No, don't go in there. I was just in there and trust me you do not want to go in there."

"Lexie, its fine. We all do it," Meredith said, walking into the bathroom. "Oh My God, Mark, what are you doing in here?" seeing Mark barely wearing a towel.

Throwing on some Hello Kitty pajamas, Lexie walked into the bathroom, seeing Meredith's face go from shocked to visibly angry as she put two and two together. Turning to Lexie, her voice turning to ice, "_**Alexandra Caroline Grey**_, I'm sure that Mom will love to hear this story when you get home, in fact I will be going with you when you leave in order to make sure Mom hears about this!"

Lexie nodded, eyes filling with tears, mouthing, "If I still can I'll call you later," to Mark.

"As for you," Meredith continued, turning to Mark, "We need to go outside to talk about this because I'm pretty sure that the neighbors have heard enough things coming from this house for today."

When they got outside, Mark immediately said, "Meredith I can explain."

"Explain what. That you were just here to drop off Lexie's stuff and it was a coincidence that I walked on you after you had sex with my sister. She is seventeen, still in high school, has a boyfriend, and lives four hours away. For the rest of the time she is here, just keep Little Sloan out of Little Grey. In fact, until she is out of high school keep Little Sloan out of Little Grey," Meredith said, scoffing.

"Meredith, you're wrong on that one. It's actually Big Sloan."

Meredith rolled her eyes at Mark's comment and took a deep breath, walking toward the entrance to her apartment. It was time to get Lexie's side of the story.

-YAIH-

**camilinha100696: Thank you so much for saying that, you really have no idea how much that means to me. I will keep writing and thank you again.**

**AN: Next chapter, Meredith and Lexie talk and I promise aside from that scene the majority of the next chapter will be just Meredith and Derek. To clear things up, Meredith reacted the way she did because she doesn't want Lexie to get hurt, since Mark is so much older than her. She knows that Jackson cheated on her, but not all of the details.**

**I apologize for the lack of MerDer screen time; I guess I miss Slexie a bit too much. As for the case, it's not over yet with new developments being revealed eventually. Sorry for the wait again, I'm going to start banking my chapters so expect another delay for I'm not sure how long. I want to at least have two at the very least done before I post again. On the bright side, with the banked chapters, I will able to send you guys previews and before you ask I don't know when I will have the previews. We have a ways to go before the prologue and what comes after the prologue. Love you guys, please leave a review, hopefully you enjoyed the longest chapter I have ever written. **

**Kate**


	6. It's Too Cold Outside For Angels To Fly

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy. All recognizable characters that are probably horribly out of character belong to Shonda and the powers that be that run ABC. I do own all the OC's that show up and the unintended rhyme in the previous sentence.**

**camilinha100696: The wait is over. You are quickly becoming my favorite reviewer. **

Lexie sat on the couch, waiting for Meredith to come back inside, feeling like a prisoner waiting for execution. She heard footsteps coming toward her, leading her heart to start beating as fast as it does whenever she goes to a basketball game and the score is tied with only a few minutes left in the game. At first she thought it was a serial killer, but then she realized it was Meredith. "_A serial killer would have been better, at least I know that they would kill me at some point," _she thought as Meredith sat down next to her.

"Hey Lex, can we talk," Meredith said, surprising Lexie with how calm she was considering her anger just fifteen minutes ago.

"Mer can you just tell me what my punishment is and can we move on, the smell of Chinese is making me hungry," Lexie replied.

"You're not being punished and Mom doesn't need to know about this. I was just shocked because you're seventeen and he's my age and I practically raised you since Dad was always out drinking and Mom was always working. However, if this happens again while you are here, then there will be consequences. Now, let's eat some Chinese because I'm as hungry as you are."

Lexie smiled and said, "Dibs on the orange chicken."

"Fine, if I get the sweet and sour," Meredith replied, grabbing some chopsticks. "You know," she said, taking a bite, "I think that I would have done the exact same thing when I was your age."

"Honestly, I want this to work, but there are way too many factors against this, so I don't know and as for the doing the exact same thing, unlike you I would not dye my hair bright pink."

"The universe has a way of making things like this happen, if it's meant to be, it will be and as for the pink hair I was going through some stuff at the time," Meredith said, flipping through the TV channels before settling on a rerun of _Friends_.

-YAIH-

"Meredith," Derek said, the next day at work. "They found another body."

"Great," Meredith replied, standing up and following Derek outside to a squad car.

"You ok?"

"Just tired and worried about Lexie. I mean Mark is so much older than her and she's still in high school and they live pretty far apart."

"I don't know, four hours isn't that far and there's always Skype. Mark is my oldest friend, so I know how he works when it comes to girls, when it's love at first sight, he gets this look in his eyes, I saw that when he glanced at Lexie."

"I thought he had some weird look on his face and anyway until she's eighteen I told him to keep Little Sloan out of Little Grey. His response was to correct me and say it was Big Sloan," Meredith replied.

"That's Mark for you, he would say defiantly something like that," Derek said, as he started laughing until they got to the crime scene.

"Anna Lewis, twenty-five, found with multiple stab wounds, dumped here and it looks like she's been here for at least six hours," said Alex, when they got out of the car and walked over where to the body was.

"Is that a crack pipe?" Meredith asked, referring to the object near the body.

"I think it is; Izzie and I will take a look at it. As for the body, I'll send it up to O'Malley, so he can get a look at it," Alex replied.

-YAIH-

A couple hours later, Meredith and Derek were called in to George O'Malley, the NYPD's medical examiner, office.

"The body shows no signs of sexual trauma, but from what I figured out, she did happen to have sex prior to the murder. Karev and Stevens wanted me to tell you that the object you found in fact was a crack pipe with her fingerprints on it," George informed Meredith and Derek when they walked into the room.

"So our victim was a crack addict. I have a feeling she went to get crack, had sex with her dealer to get money and then he killed her," Derek said.

"The question is why, though. Do you have any information on the dealer and why he would put the crack pipe with her? It's almost like he wanted to get caught." Meredith asked, finishing Derek's sentence.

"No, I'll tell Karev and Stevens to take a look at the names of the local drug dealers in the city."

"Wait, hang on," Meredith said, "She was dumped at where the jogger found the body, so the dealer might not be local. What were the hair colors of Riley Martin and Taylor Marshall?" she asked Derek when they were walking to the crime lab to talk to Alex and Izzie.

"Taylor was a redhead, Riley was a blonde, and Anna was a brunette," Derek said, searching his memory.

The light bulb went off in Meredith's head, and she's whispered to herself, "Blonde, brunette, redhead," before saying, "Derek, I have a feeling that our perp is killing women with those types of hair color and people who have problems with drugs or alcohol."

"Riley and Taylor didn't have drinking problems," Derek started to say before his phone rang. "Hello, oh hi Mom. I get that it's supposed to start snowing, but the roads aren't that bad. I checked the weather this morning and they said we are getting snow, but once I get out of the city, it will be fine. As for the case, either my partner or someone else can take care of it until I get back. I'll call you later, love you too."

"Who was that?"

"My mom. I'm supposed to leave in a couple days to go to her house for Christmas, but the roads are pretty bad as you leave New York and she lives in Connecticut."

"Yeah, it's not that bad in as you come from Boston. My parents are coming down here and that means Lexie and I have to set up the house for Christmas. I don't even have a tree yet and can't cook to save my life. Hell, if it weren't for Lexie, I would not even have a relationship with my parents."

"I could help you with the tree at least, as for cooking, I can't do that either."

-YAIH-

"You got it?" Meredith asked, as she pulled up outside her apartment.

"Yeah, I just don't know how we're going to get it in your apartment," Derek replied, untying the tree from the roof of Meredith's car.

"I told you we should have gone with the Charlie Brown tree I saw. I'll text Lexie and have her come down and help us."

"How is that going to fit in our living room? Scratch that, how are we going to get that in the apartment?" Lexie asked.

"The living room I'm not sure about and as for actually getting it upstairs, we are going to take the stairs because I highly doubt this could fit in an elevator," Derek said, checking around for people.

"Good thing they require cops to be in shape," Meredith said, motioning for Lexie to open the door for them.

-YAIH-

"Hey Mer, Mom wants me to tell you that they can't make it out here for Christmas because of the roads," Lexie said, hanging up her phone.

"Can't they get a flight out here, or is the snow that bad?" Meredith asked, hanging another ornament on the tree.

"No, they're all booked."

The wind howled outside, causing the lights to flicker as Derek walked back into the living room. "The roads are closed where my house is, so it looks like I'm stuck here for the night," he said.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be driving in fifty mile per hour winds," Meredith replied, as the lights flickered once again.

"The tree looks good."

"Thanks and thanks for helping."

"Where do you want me to sleep?"

"The couch, Lexie already has the guest room."

"There is so much sexual tension between you two it's not even funny," Lexie muttered under her breath as she walked out the room.

-YAIH-

**I know this chapter was short, but a chapter is a chapter and the next one will be slightly longer. I apologize (again) for my lack of updating, school is keeping me busy. Review and if you want a teaser, I'll pm you one. Love you guys, next chapter will be up hopefully by next weekend.**

**Kate**


	7. Let Love In

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy. All recognizable characters that are probably horribly out of character belong to Shonda and the powers that be that run ABC. I do own all the OC's that show up and the unintended rhyme in the previous sentence.**

"So Derek has been staying here a lot," Lexie said, a couple of days later on Christmas Eve, "Are you guys a thing now?"

"Lexie, he's my partner. Derek and I are just friends and he's coming over tonight for Christmas because he doesn't have anyone to spend it with and I feel bad for him," Meredith replied.

"Yeah, that was what you said last night and the night before that."

Meredith rolled her eyes and sighed, before Lexie said, "It's obvious he loves you a lot more than just being friends and I can tell that you feel the same way."

"I have to go to work, so I have to leave right about now."

"Your shift doesn't start for another two hours; you're just trying to get out of this conversation."

"Damn, she's good," Meredith muttered under her breath, before Lexie said, "If you're inviting Derek, then I'm inviting Mark," before Meredith walked out the door.

-YAIH-

"Ok, since I'm not a good cook, I made ham and mac and cheese. Merry Christmas everyone," Meredith said, laughing to herself.

"Hey Christmas isn't about the food or the presents, it's about being with your family or in my case, people that invited you here," Derek said, taking a bite of the mac and cheese, turning to Meredith.

"_Please tell me I am not blushing like a love-struck teenage girl_," Meredith thought.

"This is better than pizza and/or ramen noodles which is what I've lived on for the entire time I've been here, breakfast, lunch and dinner and even when we were kids because those were the only things Meredith could pretty much cook at the time," Lexie said, leaning back on the couch.

Caught slightly off guard, Derek said, "Your parents didn't do that stuff?"

"No," Meredith replied, "Our dad always was out drinking and our mom worked all the time because apparently saving lives is more entertaining than raising two kids, so I practically raised Lexie from the time she was born. Speaking of Dad how is he?"

"I seriously think he's drinking again, he's never at home, and he's always at work or at some sort of meeting. Although the occasional thought keeps crossing my mind of what if he's a serial killer?"

"I don't know Dad would never do anything like that, he doesn't seem like the ones I've been around and I've been around a lot of serial killers."

"That's true; I'm probably just being paranoid, probably because I do watch a lot of crime dramas. I'm going to miss you when I leave tomorrow," she replied.

"Oh that's right you're leaving tomorrow, I'll miss you too. Go, enjoy Boston and deal with Jackson and April."

"Ugh, please don't talk about them."

"Sorry."

Derek laughed to himself and thought, _"I could get used to this_."

-YAIH-

The rest of the holiday season flew by, Lexie had gone back to Boston and the case was going nowhere.

"Day six, this is day six of no new leads on any of these cases which sucks because I really don't want any of them to go cold," Meredith replied, sipping her coffee.

"Mer, you know how it is, six days and nothing new, it goes cold," Derek replied.

Taken slightly by surprise by Derek's shortening of her name, Meredith replied, "I know but there is something that draws me to these cases. I can't put my finger on it, maybe it's because they were the first cases after I transferred here."

"Why did you transfer here? I apologize if that was a personal question."

"Sorry, it kind of is. I'll tell you some other time," Meredith said, throwing away her cup of coffee before striking up a conversation with Cristina.

-YAIH-

That night Derek went to the local bar and to his surprise saw Meredith drinking shot after shot of tequila. He sat down next her and said, "Hey," offering a small smile.

"Derek hi," she said, obviously sounding slightly drunk.

"Is this a stress relieving thing?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that."

"Does she need a cab?" Derek asked Joe, the bartender.

"Are you taking her home?" Joe asked.

Derek nodded and Joe said, "Then she doesn't need one, thank you."

After quickly throwing down some money, Derek turned to Meredith and said, "I'm going to take you home now." She nodded, showing him a faint amount of sobriety.

"Let's get you to bed so you can sleep this off," Derek said to Meredith when they got back to her house before taking her up to her bedroom.

-YAIH-

Meredith awoke in her apartment, hearing footsteps, thinking, "_Please tell me that some perp did not break into my house and is planning on killing me_." Her head was pounding and she blinked trying to adjust herself to the light.

"Good morning, my hungover partner. I brought you something for your headache," a voice she recognized as Derek's, said as he walked into the room, holding two Advil and a bottle of water.

"Thanks. First off, what did I do last night and please tell me that we didn't do anything," Meredith said, taking the Advil and water bottle from Derek's hand, swallowing the both of pills quickly.

"No, we didn't," Derek replied, joining Meredith on the bed. He remembered what Meredith said and did the night before, "_It's obvious that you want me, as of right now I want you too,_" stripping down to just her bra and panties.

"_Mer, if you were sober, I would be more than willing to, but considering the fact that you are drunk and-" Derek tried to say before Meredith grabbed his hands and placed them at the back of her bra. He moved his hands away only for Meredith to undo her bra herself, throwing it on her bedroom floor, leaving her just in her panties. She then proceeded to slide panties off and crawl under the blankets, before passing out or falling asleep, Derek couldn't tell. _

_Derek knew that if he did have sex with her, one he was sober, so it would be considered rape and two, Meredith wouldn't even remember what happened in the morning. "You probably won't remember this in the morning, so I'm going to leave you here and go sleep on the couch," he said to a sleeping Meredith, kissing her forehead before walking into the living room, grabbing some blankets and made a bed for himself on the couch._

"You able to go into work today?" Derek said.

"Work, shit, I forgot all about it. If Hunt and/or Webber ask tell them that I'm not feeling well. Thanks for taking care of me last night," Meredith replied, laying her head back down on her pillow.

"I'm just looking out for you, you are my partner after all. If anything did happen to you, I would never forgive myself," Derek said, before he walked out the door.

-YAIH-

"So let me get this straight, Meredith was drunk last night, you took her to her house, she asked you to have sex with her and you declined?" Mark asked, after Derek told him what had happened the night before.

"Yes, you are describing what I just said," Derek said, chuckling slightly.

"I-I don't know what to say about that."

"And that my friend is why everyone thinks that you are a manwhore."

"They do?" Mark replied, sounding confused.

"Oh, you didn't know about that. Seriously, there is every a society formed by a couple of our lawyers called Attorneys United Against Mark Sloan."

"I'll admit that I slept with a _**few**_ of our lawyers, but that stopped about a month ago because I'm seeing someone right now," Mark said as Derek walked away to talk to Alex who called him into the crime lab.

"What is it Karev?" asked Derek, walking into the lab.

"I overheard Meredith's theory on our perps MO and I got around to doing a search on recent kills in the area and I have a gut feeling that she is on the right track," Alex explained.

"Okay, thanks Karev, I will call Meredith and tell her," Derek replied, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Alex nodded and turned back to his computer, as Derek walked out of the lab, quickly texting Meredith about the new findings.

"That's great, come over later so we can talk about it," was her reply.

-YAIH-

After his shift ended, Derek drove to Meredith's house and waited outside after ringing the doorbell. Meredith answered the door and he walked in. The song Let Love In by The Goo Goo Dolls was playing. "I hope you don't mind the music, I have to have something that distracts me from the silence of an empty apartment," Meredith said sitting down.

"No, actually I love this song. It makes me think of you and anyway let's talk about the case," Derek said, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, you just look like you have something you have to tell me."

"I love you, that has been on my chest for the longest time, I love you, and I'm in love with you. From the moment we met and found out that we were working together, to seeing you get drunk and trying to have sex with me, to where we are now, I love you and have always been in love with you," Derek said, before pausing to hear her reaction.

"Derek, I-I have been feeling the exact same way, but we barely know each other and-and," Meredith tried to say, but the words in her head did not want to come out, she was that caught off guard by what he said. "What I'm trying to say is, where do we go from here because this changes everything about us," before yet again being caught off guard because the next thing she knew her lips were on his, caught up in a soft kiss. They kissed for a few seconds before Derek broke the kiss, by saying, "I'm sorry that was my impulses speaking right there," Derek tried to say before Meredith kissed him back, before she broke the kiss by saying, "I have always felt the same way about you, just never felt like I could say because of my issues with trust."

Sensing the beginning of an awkward silence, Derek said to her, "Do you want to get drinks sometime or go to dinner or a movie, preferably tomorrow after work."

"Yes, I would love that," Meredith replied, kissing Derek again.

-YAIH-

**Derek finally told Meredith how he felt, there isn't going to be any drama coming their way, right. Wrong, there is a lot more ahead. The next chapter will contain their first date and an insight into why Meredith asked to be transferred to New York and a continuation of the Slexie storyline. I apologize for the delay again, I got busy with school and wanted to get the next chapter done before I updated again. Leave a review becaue I'm pretty sure you guys have a lot to say.I got an awesome respose to the previous chapter with three reviews and that's the most reviews I have ever got on a chapter, that means a lot to me. **

**Love you guys**

**Kate **


	8. State of Grace

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy. All recognizable characters that are probably horribly out of character belong to Shonda and the powers that be that run ABC. I do own all the OC's that show up and the unintended rhyme in the previous sentence.**

State of Grace

The next day after their shifts ended, Meredith found herself having dinner with Derek at a local restaurant called Sanctuary. It had been her first date in who knows how long, so she found herself being a little nervous. "_Stop_," she told herself, "_It's just Derek and last time you checked, he wasn't a serial killer, so breathe_," before Derek broke her thoughts by asking, "You okay?", while giving her a reassuring look.

"Yeah, I'm just a little nervous, I haven't been a on a date in a while," she replied.

"I feel the exact same way."

"We've only known each other for a month and we haven't really talked about our lives, then again it's not like we've had the time to," Meredith said, trying to break the ice.

"That is true, although I've told you about my dad on the day we met and that's not something I come right out the gate telling people," Derek replied, sipping his water.

"I'll start with the reason why I came here since you have been wondering about that. I was at work on a normal day, I was a patrol officer at the time, and I was taking care of a standoff with some coworkers when someone bombed the place. I tried to save the people I was with, but failed. That incident shook me and I realized I needed to leave Boston as soon as an offer came up. Then in order to do that I had to take the detectives exam and a couple months later, the NYPD called, I resigned from Boston, came here and got settled and met you."

"Have you seen anyone about that, like a therapist, that seems like something that could mess you up pretty bad?"

"No, I'm not a fan of therapists, they, in my opinion; don't really seem to help your problems. Anyway, why did you join the force?"

Derek cleared his throat before saying, "After my dad died and seeing my mom raise me and my four sisters on her own and how hard it was on her, I decided to go to college to become a cop, join the academy, and eventually work my way to becoming a detective and find the bastards who killed my father."

"You had four sisters plus you; At least unlike my mom, your mom was around, mine worked all the time."

"Yeah, and I was the youngest, it goes Kathleen, Nancy, Lizzie, Amelia, and me. Although at the time, Kathy and Nancy were in college when he died, so Lizzie was the go to babysitter for Amelia and me when my mom was at work."

"How did that go for you?"

"Not well, to say the least, let's just say I learned the facts of life the hard way."

"Nice, what were you like in high school? I had bright pink hair; I wouldn't have been caught dead at prom, partied a lot, and raised Lexie until when my dad got sober and realized he needed to be there for his kids, which happened when I was fifteen and she was seven."

When it came to high school, I had Mark for a friend and that was it. Girls didn't exactly knock on my door. I had yet to discover hair products yet, so I had an afro and was in band."

"You, Derek Shepherd, with the world's greatest hair, had an afro."

"You think my hair is great," Derek said, laughing and raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I kind of do."

"You are something else, Meredith Grey."

"Do you guys need a few minutes or are you ready to order now?" asked the waitress, interrupting their conversation.

"I haven't even looked at the menu," Derek said. Meredith nodded and said, "Same here."

The waitress nodded, and walked away, leaving Meredith and Derek alone. Feeling the familiar buzz of a phone in her pocket, Meredith glanced at the screen, saying, "Duty calls, even when you're on a date."

"Please tell me it was just the crime lab picking something up because I really don't want to deal with another body."

"Crime lab found something, only they didn't specify what," Meredith said, grabbing her jacket.

"Romantic," Derek said, opening the door for Meredith.

-YAIH-

"Alright, Alex and Izzie, you two better have a pretty damn good reason for interrupting a date I was on," Meredith said, storming into the crime lab, Derek not far behind her.

"With who?" Izzie asked, looking up from her computer.

Meredith looked at Derek and smiled, giving Izzie all the proof she needed to jump up and hug them both. "Finally, I was beginning to think that Derek would never tell you how he felt," her face breaking out into a huge smile.

"Seriously, everyone but you could see it, our new attorney, the one who Hunt is dating, even knew within seconds of meeting him," Alex piped up.

"That's because our new attorney is my best friend and has been ever since high school and I didn't know her and Hunt were dating, normally she tells me this stuff."

"Yeah, he was there when that icicle impaled her that day, I think two weeks ago," Izzie said.

"Anyway, let's cut the small talk, what did you guys call us here for?" Derek asked.

"An update on Meredith's theory on our perps MO, she happens to be right, but at the same time wrong," Alex said.

"What do you mean wrong?"

"You mentioned the hair colors being blonde, brunette and redhead, but Callie and Arizona did some more digging and found that Taylor and Anna had naturally blonde hair, so our perp has a thing for blondes."

"Well, they do have more fun," Derek said, referring to the old statement.

"So is that all you guys needed and if that's the case, we're going to go," Meredith said, walking out the door.

"That's all we needed and congratulations on finally getting together," Izzie said, before the door closed.

-YAIH-

"I can take you home," Derek said to Meredith when they got outside.

"Thanks," she replied.

"You're welcome," Derek said, chuckling slightly. "So this next date, when is it?" he asked after her walked Meredith to her front door.

"Sometime soon, this one was great, except for Alex and Izzie interrupting us," Meredith replied.

"How about next Tuesday after our shifts end?"

"Tuesday sounds great."

"You wait, Meredith Grey, wanting this world to let you in," Derek said, quoting "Let Love In" before kissing Meredith. The kiss lasted a few seconds, before Derek's phone rang. He looked at caller ID saying, "I wonder what Hunt wants us to do at eight at night," before answering the phone. "Hunt, what is it?"

"I need you and Grey to go to where Torres and Robbins are. They are dealing with Marco Williams and James Tanner who have people hostage and they requested back-up," Owen said.

"Meredith and I will get there as soon as we can," Derek replied, hanging up his phone.

"What did Hunt need?" Meredith asked.

"Torres and Robbins are dealing with a hostage situation and they called for back-up."

Meredith nodded and said, "Williams and Tanner?" referring to the drug kingpins Callie and Arizona had been dealing with who kidnap families and hold them hostage for several weeks, before murdering the father, mother and children after subjecting them to days of torture, before starting the cycle over again with a new family. Meredith shuddered at the thought of having to deal with them when she in such a high spirit from her night with Derek.

"Yes, this isn't good," Derek said, with a grim expression on his face.

-YAIH-

**Kind of short and fillerish and after this chapter, I'm going to take a hiatus until the end of May to focus on school and get some more chapters written, including finishing up the next one. On the bright side, I have the entire story mapped out and the prologue is not too far away thanks to a few small time skips and summer I can post more often and try to keep myself on a schedule. I know I said that I was going to continue the Slexie storyline, but that ended up being another chapter in itself, so I might post it to tide you guys over while I'm on hiatus. Next chapter will have: the hostage situation and the NYPD dealing with the return of a former member. Reviews are welcome, have an awesome Easter. **

**Love you all**

**Kate**


	9. Never Let Me Go

**Disclaimer: Characters and the occasional borrowed line or scene belong to Shonda, not me. **

Never Let Me Go

After meeting up with Mark, who also had gotten called for back-up, they all drove to where Callie and Arizona were and drew their guns. They walked in and saw Callie lying on the ground bleeding and Arizona pacing with a nervous look on her face.

"What's going on?" Meredith asked.

"After I called you guys out here, Williams and Tanner took off running and Callie went after them and Williams stabbed her. I called an ambulance and I'll have you guys meet me there when you're done here," Arizona replied, hearing the ambulance sirens.

A crash rang out, sounding like a window breaking, Derek and Meredith ran toward the noise, Mark not moving. "Mark, are you coming?" Derek asked.

"No, I'm staying with Callie, you guys go after him," he replied, looking toward the door.

Meredith and Derek ran down the corridor, drawing their guns. "Marco Williams and James Tanner, there's nowhere to run, drop your weapons," Derek said, to the two gang members.

"How about no," Marco said with a cruel smirk on his face.

"How about yes, Williams, or I could charge your and Tanner's asses with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer for what you did to Detective Torres, not to mention all those other charges, kidnapping, possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to distribute, and last but not least several counts of first degree murder, " Meredith said, smirking.

"I'm not going to any prison," Williams said, putting his gun to Tanner's temple and shooting, before putting it to his own.

"Williams, _no_," Derek tried to say before Williams pulled the trigger.

Following a moment of silence, Derek ran a hand through his hair, "I'll go find the paramedics if they are still here. I think I heard them pull up a few minutes ago."

"I'll try and find the hostages and I'll meet you out front," Meredith replied. Derek nodded and ran out of the room to find the paramedics.

-YAIH-

"I asked her to be my girlfriend and these psychopaths came out of nowhere," Arizona said to no one in particular, when Meredith and Derek arrived at the hospital twenty minutes which felt like twenty years later, sitting in the waiting room, waiting for Callie who was immediately rushed into surgery.

"Wait, you guys are dating?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, we've been out on a couple dates. I asked her to be my girlfriend before we got called out there, so I never got her answer," Arizona replied, walking out the hospital doors.

"Arizona," Meredith said, following Arizona out the doors, noticing her sitting on a bench, smoking a cigarette. "I didn't know you smoked," she said, sitting down next to her.

"Neither does Callie, so don't mention it. I only do when I'm stressed or when I feel like everything is falling apart, like now and when my brother died three years ago. I can't lose her Meredith; I just got to know her now she could be dead. I want to be a good man in a storm for her, yet I'm scared," Arizona said, taking a drag from her cigarette.

"You just described my relationship with tequila, Arizona. You shouldn't worry, Callie is going to be fine. From what I've heard about her she seems like a very strong person, a couple of years ago, she dated our medical examiner, George O'Malley and they broke up when he cheated on her a friend of his, one of our lab techs, Izzie Stevens. After taking time to get over that, she started dating her former partner, Erica Hahn, until they broke up after getting into a huge fight and Erica resigned and transferred out God knows where right now."

"She told me that Erica left her and George cheated, but she never told me who it was with," was the last thing Arizona said before Owen walked over to where Arizona and Meredith were sitting.

"Grey, can you do me a favor and head back in. I need to speak to Robbins about what happened out there in private. Let Shepherd know that I also want to talk to the both of you tomorrow in my office," Owen said. Meredith nodded and walked back through the hospital doors.

-YAIH-

Addison Montgomery stepped off of the plane and followed her fellow passengers into the airport. She picked up her baggage and saw Owen waiting for her.

"Addison Montgomery, we spoke on the phone," she said, following him to the taxi.

"Yes, Webber told me a lot about you. Correct me if I'm wrong, you were partnered with Derek Shepherd," Owen replied.

"Yes, I was, until I moved out to Los Angeles about two-three months ago."

"Why did you move out there?"

"I decided I needed a change. I was never happy in New York as I am in LA."

"Do you by any chance know Arizona Robbins?"

"She worked in Special Victims and that's about all I know about her."

"She transferred to the Homicide department about a month after you left and is partnered with Callie Torres, which brings me to why I called you out here."

"Why did something happen to her or Callie?" Addison asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Callie was stabbed by Marco Williams and will be out recovering for a few weeks and since Webber told me that you guys were friends I called you out here to replace her for a few weeks."

"Oh my God, is she okay?"

"She's not awake yet, but the doctors are expecting her to wake up, although they don't know when."

Addison sighed and said, "Hell of a welcome back."

-YAIH-

Meredith walked back into the hospital and saw Derek talking to a redheaded woman who looked like Isabella Rossellini. "Meredith," he said, "This is Addison Montgomery, she was my partner before you."

"Meredith Grey, Derek's partner," Meredith replied, shaking Addison's hand.

"Are you two dating?"

"We've only been on one date."

"Derek's a really nice guy. We worked together for three years and we dated for a year before I left for Los Angeles."

Meredith didn't know what to say, thinking, "_Am I just Derek's rebound from Addison_?" The only words that left her mouth were, "I just came over to tell you, Derek, that Hunt wants us in his office tomorrow morning."

-YAIH-

"Addison," Mark said, walking up to Addison and giving her a hug.

"Mark, hi. It's been awhile since we last talked," she replied.

"Yeah, ever since you left, not even a phone call or anything like that."

"About that, what we did that night three months ago was a mistake. I moved across the country because I couldn't face Derek after what I did to him."

"You know if I wasn't seeing someone, I would say let's actually make this more than a one night stand, but I really like this girl I'm dating now."

"That's a first for you, Mark Sloan, this girl must be really special to get you to change your ways. I have to go; Hunt wants me to go over some stuff with him."

-YAIH-

Tuesday night rolled around and Meredith found herself having dinner with Derek again.

"You okay? You look like something is bothering you?" Derek asked.

"I'm just going to come out and say it. Am I just your rebound girl from Addison?" Meredith said, taking a sip of water.

"Meredith, the reason I waited so long to tell you that I was in love with you is because I didn't want to rush into another relationship after I had just gotten out of one. I've told you before that I was in love with you from the first time I saw you and I still am. I didn't tell you this, but the first time I spoke to you, I thought, '_I'm going to marry this girl_.' Come here," Derek said, as he walked over to Meredith's side of the table and kissed her. "If I didn't love you, I wouldn't have done that," he said.

"I love you Derek Shepherd," Meredith said, kissing Derek, until she broke the kiss saying, "What do you say we get the check and eat at my place and maybe you could remind me how much you love me and maybe when you wake up tomorrow I can cook you breakfast," she said, flirtatiously.

"Sounds like a plan," Derek replied.

**I apologize if this chapter isn't that good, I have been dealing with stuff in my personal life and that has left me with little time and energy to write. Not a great way to return from hiatus. Next chapter: Meredith learns more about Derek, while Mark and Addison come clean about what they did. I planned out a timeline for the rest of this story; it will be in three parts. We are in part one, which is building toward the prologue. Part two builds toward a shocking reveal and part three will tie the story in a nice neat little bow. Review please, last chapter I only got one review and that was nice, but I really want to hear what you guys think. Chapter Eight will be up at the earliest sometime not next week, but the week after.**

**Love you all**

**Kate**


	10. Save Me

Save Me

February

Meredith rolled over in her bed and noticed Derek sleeping next to her. She first thought, "_What is he doing in my bed, he's supposed to be on the couch_," before mentally kicking herself for forgetting that they were now a couple. Derek awoke a few minutes later, mumbling, "What time is it?"

"Eight in the morning and unless Alex and/or Izzie call us in, we both have the day off. Wait, never mind that, Hunt told me that he needs to see us in his office sometime today," Meredith replied.

Derek sighed, "Perfect, a meeting with Hunt then I get to spend the day with my girlfriend. You up for round two?"

"For one thing, I think we got way past round two last night. I would be up for it right now, but you should go and brush your teeth."

"Since you brought up my morning breath, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep because you have a tendency to snore."

"I know. I get it from my father. I remember that my mom used to always complain about it, when she wasn't spending all of her time at the hospital."

"I'll go brush my teeth. Don't get started without me."

Meredith laughed, "I'll try my best," throwing a pillow at Derek, hitting him in the head, "That's for making fun of my snoring." Derek grabbed his head and threw the pillow back at Meredith, "You're one to talk," disappearing into her bathroom. Two minutes later, he came out, "I love you," he said, grabbing Meredith and kissing her.

-YAIH-

"You know something?" Meredith said, as she snuggled closer to Derek, "I know hardly anything about you aside from about your dad and family. I don't know any of your interests or anything like that."

Derek opened his mouth, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. "Shepherd. Hello Lieutenant Jennings. You do know that today's our day off. How important is this? Ok, Meredith and I will be there in an hour."

"What did Jennings want? Please tell me that the crime lab didn't find another body?" Meredith asked.

"He wants to talk to us about the Williams and Tanner thing. He wants us there in an hour because Hunt has to go to court and he doesn't know how long it will take."

Meredith sighed and got out of bed, "I thought we had to be there sometime today, not in an hour. I'm going to go shower." Once she got into the shower, she started the water and didn't hear the shower curtain open and close until she felt lips press against hers and her back press against the wall. "Derek, we have to get going," as his mouth attacked hers.

"This way we could conserve water and have round three at the same time," Derek replied, hands moving all over Meredith's body.

Meredith wrapped her legs around Derek's waist, "We could be a little late," kissing him, as the water from the shower rained down over them.

**-**YAIH**-**

After showering and driving to the precinct, Meredith and Derek walked into Jennings's office, finding not him at his desk filling out paper work. "Detectives, please have a seat," Jennings said, closing the door behind them.

"Captain Hunt is in court right now, getting a warrant, so unfortunately he can't make it to the meeting. He wants me to tell you guys that he's going to give you a couple of weeks to get mandatory counseling after what happened with Williams and Tanner."

"Hold on, this is mandatory?" Meredith asked.

"Yes, Detective Grey, mandatory. We're a little different from what you were used to in Boston. For God sakes, you two saw two guys put bullets in their heads. Hell, even if it wasn't mandatory, I would say go do it. That will be all, detectives."

Derek stood up, Meredith followed his lead, "Thanks Lieutenant," he said, walking out the door.

-YAIH-

After their meeting, Meredith noticed a hand wave in the direction of the crime lab, "Derek, look over there." Derek noticed the hand and followed it, Meredith not far behind.

"What's your mother's maiden name? What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?" Meredith asked, while they were walking toward the lab.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Derek replied.

"Just that I'm your girlfriend and I want to know this stuff. On top of that, I've never been to your house, while you practically live at mine," Meredith started to say before Alex and Izzie walked into the lab behind them.

"Why did you guys call us in here?" Derek asked.

Alex sat down in a nearby chair, "It's about the Blonde Killer case. DNA came back and it links Caleb Perry to the murders of Riley Martin, Taylor Marshall, and Anna Lewis. We're still waiting on the one for Nicole Jacobson, in case you're wondering."

"Caleb, is he here?" Meredith asked.

Alex shook his head, "Hunt's getting the warrant right now. I know that you guys are in need of counseling, but this is important."

Derek sighed, "So much for a day off."

-YAIH-

After getting the warrant, Meredith and Derek drove to Caleb's house. Derek knocked on the door, "NYPD, open up!" Caleb opened the door, greeted with a simple, "Hands behind your back. You're under arrest for the murders of Riley Martin, Taylor Marshall, and Anna Lewis."

"I never did anything. I was set up," Caleb protested as Meredith led him to a squad car.

-YAIH-

Once they returned to the precinct, Caleb was brought into an interrogation room. Meredith took a deep breath, before crossing her arms at Caleb. "You know, the day after Riley's body was found, you seemed concerned. If you ever get of prison, I suggest taking acting classes because you have talent."

"Again, Detectives, I never did anything. I was set up by a friend of my father's. They are the ones who killed Riley, Taylor, Anna and possibly that Nicole girl too."

"Does this friend of father's have a name?" Derek asked, flipping his chair around so that the bars were facing the table. Just then, Caleb's lawyer walked into the room and whispered something to him, "My client cannot answer this question and will not be taking any further questions. That will be all, Detectives," ushering Meredith and Derek out of the room.

"So close, we were so fucking close to our guy and he lawyered up," Derek muttered under his breath.

Meredith put her hand on Derek's shoulder, "We'll get our chance. This will go to court and Cristina will get some answers out of him. Then she'll throw his ass in Rikers and this will all be over."

"I just feel this connection to this case than any other one I've been on. Like for some reason, this could lead me to finding the men who killed my father."

Meredith opened her mouth to say, "I feel the same connection," before her phone rang. "Grey," she said.

-YAIH-

While Meredith was on the phone, Derek noticed Mark and Addison talking and he faintly heard Addison's voice saying, "We did what we did and that's why I left."

"Did what?" Derek asked.

Addison sighed, thinking, "_Quick like a Band-Aid_. Derek, I never wanted you to find out about this, but when we were dating I got drunk and slept with Mark. After that night, I called in sick the next couple of days and packed my stuff and prepared myself to move to Los Angeles because I couldn't face you after what I did."

"I don't blame you," Derek said, before punching Mark in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"I deserved that," Mark mumbled, clutching his jaw.

Derek clutched his hand, "You're damn right you did," he bit back.

-YAIH-

Derek walked back to where Meredith was, noticing her face looking white as a sheet. "You okay? You're look like you're about to throw up."

Meredith's mind instantly flashed back to the phone call she received a few minutes earlier.

_A gravelly voice was on the other line, "You're edging close, Detective Grey, very close, almost too close." Meredith shuddered and a wave of nausea hit her, "How did you get this number?"_

_The voice chuckled, "I have my connections," before hanging up. _

"I'm fine. It was just a wrong number," Meredith replied, when the flashback ended.

Derek stared at his girlfriend, "Are you sure?"

"Derek, I'm fine."

Derek sighed, "Come on, I have something to show you," leading Meredith out the door and to his car.

-YAIH-

"Close your eyes," Derek said, parking his car at their destination.

"Okay," Meredith replied, a touch of uncertainty in her voice.

Derek lead Meredith a few feet, "Okay, open your eyes."

"Where are we?"

"Remember those questions you were asking me earlier?" Meredith nodded and Derek continued, "My mother's maiden name, Maloney. I have four sisters. I have nine nieces and five nephews. I like coffee ice cream, single-malt scotch, occasionally a good cigar. I like to fly fish. And I cheat when I do the crossword puzzle on Sunday. And I never dance in public. Favorite novel, The Sun Also Rises. Favorite band, The Clash. My favorite color is blue. I don't like light blue, indigo. The scar right here on my forehead, that's why I don't ride motorcycles anymore. And I live in that trailer. All this land is mine. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it. That's all you've earned for now. The rest you're just... just gonna have to take on faith."

Meredith smiled, "I love you, Derek Shepherd," as the first drops of rain poured from the sky.

"I love you too, Meredith Grey," Derek replied, as the rain turned into a downpour as their lips met in a passionate kiss. "Round Four, I think we're up to?"

"After a day like today, yes."

**Next chapter: A time jump to Easter and the last fluff chapter and the last chapter in general to the prologue. Before I go, I'd like to bring up the timeline I mentioned in the previous chapter. The timeline means that my updates will be every Thursday during the summer. I'm done with school for the year, which means I have more time to write this story. Another meaning to my timeline is that the prologue was seven months after the first chapter. The first chapter takes place toward the end of November and seven months after is June, so in every chapter starting with this one, it will be the chapter song and the month the chapter takes place in before the actual chapter starts. So far the timeline is…**

**Chapter One: November**

**Chapter Two: November**

**Chapter Three: November**

**Chapter Four: December**

**Chapter Five: Christmas, leading into January**

**Chapter Six: January**

**Chapter Seven: End of January**

**Chapter Eight (this chapter): February**

**I guess that's it, review my loyal band of followers. **

**Love you all**

**Kate**


	11. Everything In Its Right Place

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy. That is firmly in the clutches of Shonda and ABC. **

Everything In Its Right Place

April

A few weeks passed since Derek and Meredith spent the night at his trailer and suddenly it was April. March had been largely uneventful with Meredith and Derek doing their mandated counseling and chasing a few smaller cases since the Blonde Killer case closed with Caleb Perry's arrest. Addison had left for Los Angeles when Callie returned to work midway through March and Derek and Mark were still not speaking to each other. Meredith began a habit of checking her phone constantly to see if she had more messages from the gravelly voiced man, while trying to convince Derek that it was nothing.

"So you're not coming down for Easter?" Lexie asked her sister a few days before Easter.

"No, I'm spending it with Derek's family. He wants me to meet them. How's Dad?"

"Have fun, I'll miss you. As for Dad, I have credible proof that he's drinking again. The other night, I could've sworn that he came home drunk covered in blood. He tried to explain to me that he was out somewhere, where a fight broke out and he was caught in the middle, which is complete crap in my opinion." Lexie sighed, "I'll call you later," before hanging up.

Derek walked up to his girlfriend, "Hey," he said, kissing her on the cheek. "How did Lexie take the news of you not spending Easter with her?"

"She's pretty bummed, but I really want to meet your family. Then again, it could snow and we could spend Easter in my apartment, like we did with Christmas. I'm also nervous too. I mean, what if your family doesn't like me."

"They'll love you and if not, you have me."

"Yeah, you're all I have pretty much anyway."

-YAIH-

After driving to Derek's mother's house in Connecticut, Meredith checked her phone for the thousandth time, took a deep breath and followed Derek into his mother's house.

Carolyn Shepherd walked over to them, hugged Derek, and said to Meredith, "It's great to finally meet you. Derek has told me so much about you."

Meredith smiled, "It's great to finally meet you too."

"Well, come on, everyone else is in the living room."

"Do you need any help in the kitchen?"

Carolyn thought for a moment, "Not at the moment, but thank you asking."

Meredith nodded and walked into the living room. Carolyn glanced at Derek, "She's pretty great."

"Thanks, I really like her," Derek replied.

"Can you do me a favor and tell everyone that dinner's almost ready."

Derek nodded and walked into the living room.

-YAIH-

While Derek was talking to Carolyn, Meredith was in the Shepherd's living room with his sisters and their husbands, checking her phone.

"When is dinner going to be ready?" Derek's sister, Kathleen asked.

"I think it's ready, although we're not eating until Amelia and Derek get here," Lizzie replied.

"Derek's already here," Meredith piped up.

Kathleen smiled, "Oh, then you must be Meredith. I'm Kathleen, but pretty much everyone calls me Kathy and this is my husband, Liam. The girl sitting next to me is Nancy and her husband, Mike and the girl who looks like Neve Campbell is Lizzie and her husband, Jonathan."

"Derek has told me about you. It's nice to meet all of you."

A silence fell over the room before Derek walked in and sat next to Meredith on the couch. "Where's Amelia?" he asked.

Nancy looked at her phone, "She just texted me that she's on her way and will be here in a half an hour."

Derek nodded, "Should we wait for her because Mom told me to tell you guys that dinner's almost ready."

Nancy stood up, "I'll run down and tell the kids."

-YAIH-

The door opened a half an hour later and an exhausted looking Amelia walked in.

"Why do you look so tired?" Derek asked.

"After my shift ended, I took a red eye from LA to here and now I'm exhausted," Amelia replied.

"Well, dinner's ready."

"I feel bad for keeping you guys waiting."

"It's okay, life of a cop."

"Speaking of cops. I assume the girl sitting next to you is Meredith."

Meredith nodded and Amelia continued, "Amelia Shepherd, I'm also a cop but I work at the LAPD."

"Meredith Grey, nice to meet you. Derek's told me about you."

Amelia chuckled, "He has, huh."

-YAIH-

After everyone was gathered at the table, Kathleen wasted no time starting small talk, "So, Derek," she began to say, taking a sip of water, "How's Mark."

"We're not talking at the moment," Derek replied.

"What? Why?"

"He slept with Addison when we were dating."

Nancy sent her brother a reassuring look and opened her mouth to say something, but Lizzie beat her to the punch, "If it helps, I never liked Addison that much anyway," she said.

"I happen to work with Addison and she misses you a lot," Amelia piped up, taking a sip of her wine.

"Yeah, well I've moved on to someone I really like," Derek said, looking at Meredith.

-YAIH-

After dinner ended and everyone helped with dishes, the Shepherd's and Meredith watched Kathleen, Nancy and Lizzie's kids hunt for Easter eggs.

"Derek," Amelia said, walking over to her brother, "Mom wants to see you inside."

Derek nodded and walked through the back door, "You want to see me, Mom?"

"Yes, I want to give you something," Carolyn replied, as she handed Derek her wedding ring."

"Your wedding ring?"

"I know I just met her today, but Meredith seems like the one for you. How long have you two been together?"

Derek thought for a moment, "Five almost six months. We haven't even been together six months, I was with Addison for two years and you never gave me your ring."

"I'm telling you, Derek, she's the one for you, I never gave you this when you were with Addison because she wasn't."

Derek pocketed the ring, "Thanks Mom. I promise when I do propose, you will be the first person I call."

Carolyn hugged her son, "I will hold you to that."

-YAIH-

As this was going on, Meredith's phone rang and she answered it, "Hello."

"Thought we were done, Detective Grey," the gravelly voiced man said.

Meredith's heart began racing, as she went around front away the rest of the Shepherds were. "Who are you?" she asked.

"If you keep going down the path you're on, you'll find out one day. Watch yourself now, Detective Grey," the man said before hanging up.

Derek walked over to his girlfriend, "Hey, Kathy told me that you were over here. What's going on?"

Hearing Derek's voice, Meredith turned around, "I love you, Derek Shepherd. Today was amazing, although I have this feeling that when several good things happen to you in a row, there are always several bad things on the horizon."

"Honestly, I feel the same way," Derek said before his and Meredith's lips met in fiery kiss.

-YAIH-

**The shortest chapter ever and it's pretty much filler, but this is the calm before the storm, everyone. Next chapter: brace yourselves, the prologue is coming and that's all I'm going to say. I know this chapter was short, but the prologue is, as of now, the longest chapter of this story, so it makes up for it. Review, my loyal band of followers. **

**Love you all**

**Kate**


	12. How To Save A Life

Prologue

How To Save A Life

June

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy. That is firmly in the clutches of Shonda and ABC.**

**Disclaimer Two: I have no medical knowledge, so bear with me. **

It was early in June, Meredith and Derek were at the precinct, drinking coffee when Owen walked over to where they were standing, "Grey, Shepherd, I hate to interrupt you guys, but there is someone who needs to talk to you. Her name is Jess Caldwell; she's the girlfriend of Caleb Perry."

Meredith and Derek both nodded and walked into the interrogation room where they were greeted by a woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties.

"Ms. Caldwell," Meredith began to say before Jess interrupted her with a simple, "Please call me Jess, Detective Grey."

"Okay then, Jess. It appears you know something about the murders of Riley Martin, Taylor Marshall and Anna Lewis."

"Yes. Caleb Perry didn't commit them. I'm not saying that because he's my boyfriend, I'm saying it because it's the truth."

"When we were interrogating him, he mentioned something about a friend of his father's setting him up, only he didn't get a chance to tell us their name. You can tell us, from what we know you don't have a lawyer that will interrupt things."

"His name is Gary Clark."

"Does he have grey hair and a mustache?"

Jess thought for a second, "Yes."

Meredith gasped, "Jess, Caleb's Perry father's friend, Gary Clark, is a serial killer and happens to be a friend of my fathers."

Stunned, "Oh my God," were the only words to come out of Jess' mouth, before she said, "That will be all. Thank you for your time."

Jess left the interrogation room, leaving Meredith and Derek alone, "Derek, I could possibly have a half-brother and my father could be a serial killer. What if he is and Lexie was right about him all along. Maybe I'm thinking too much into this, maybe it's just a coincidence."

"Let's hope it is. We should have a date night tonight to get your mind off of things. Let's just say in Times Square, I have a surprise for you."

Meredith opened her mouth to say something, but her phone rang, "Hello."

"Now you've done it. I'm coming for you, Detective Grey," the voice of the same gravelly voiced man who had been calling her on and off the past couple of months said.

Meredith felt her heart begin to beat faster than normal, "Seriously, who are you?"

The voice chuckled, "You'll find out soon," before hanging up.

"That wrong number again?" Derek asked.

Meredith nodded, "I'm excited for tonight," hoping to change the subject.

-YAIH-

"I've lived in New York for seven months and I've never had a chance to go to Times Square. I mean, I've seen it in movies, but I've never seen the real thing. It's normally filled with people, only now it's just the two of us," Meredith said, when she saw Times Square in full view.

Derek palmed the box in his back pocket, before saying, "You know, Meredith, these past seven months have been the best of my life-"

"Derek Shepherd, are you breaking up with me?"

"No, no. I'm going to give you your surprise now," Derek started to say as he reached for his back pocket, when he heard Meredith scream. He looked up and saw a masked man wearing black gloves place a rag covered in chloroform over her mouth, knocking her unconscious. He felt hands grab him and throw him to the ground, knocking him unconscious.

-YAIH-

Derek awoke sometime later, quickly checked and made sure that the ring was still there and stood up. "Meredith!" he yelled, as he noticed a black glove on the ground. He picked it up and ran to his car, taking the ten minutes it took from Times Square to the NYPD in five as he raced toward the crime lab.

After pausing to catch his breath, he handed Alex the glove. Alex looked at it, "Dude, what's going on?"

"Meredith, she was kidnapped by a person who was wearing the glove. I need you guys to run it for fingerprints."

"Oh my God, we'll run it right now," Izzie piped up. She turned toward her computer screen, "Although the bad news is that it takes a while."

-YAIH-

Meredith awoke in the back of a van, "Where am I?" she mumbled.

"Shut up!" the masked driver growled, putting more chloroform over her mouth.

Meredith awoke again in a dark room, hearing the familiar gravelly voice that sent shivers down her spine saying, "Hello Detective Grey. I trust you slept well," the voice of the masked man said, tightening the ropes around Meredith's legs as he removed his mask, showing Meredith that he was in fact, Gary Clark, a friend of her fathers who helped Ellis, Lexie and her sober him up.

"No I didn't, Gary. I trusted you, my family trusted you and the fact that you are a ruthless serial killer is beyond me," Meredith said, feeling pain shoot through her legs from the tightness of the ropes.

"That's the problem. You knew way too much, I even told you in those phone calls. So I brought you here to kill you after sometime. I do like blondes as does my partner, Walt White," Clark said, before walking out of the room, leaving Meredith in the darkness alone.

-YAIH-

"Is there anything new?" Derek asked, still pacing through the crime lab.

Alex glanced at Derek, "Dude, you're going to walk a hole in the floor."

"Sorry Derek, DNA from the gloves is still being tested as we speak," Izzie said, not looking away from her computer screen, "It will be ready when it's ready. DNA takes a while to process."

"Izzie, we don't have that kind of time. Meredith could be dead if she isn't right now," Derek said, growing frustrated at how slowly time was passing.

-YAIH-

"Got it!" Izzie shouted, several minutes later. "DNA says that the gloves were worn by Gary Clark and I'll text you his address."

"Thank you Izzie. Thank you so much." Derek replied, walking out of the lab.

"Shepherd, what are you doing here?" was Owen's reaction when he noticed Derek in the squad room.

"After our shifts ended, I was going for a walk with Detective Grey and this masked man who I found out is named Gary Clark kidnapped her," Derek replied.

"What does he look like?"

"He was wearing a mask, so I couldn't see his face, but when Meredith and I were talking to Jess Caldwell, Meredith mentioned that he had grey hair and a mustache.

Owen racked his brain for Gary Clark's with grey hair and mustaches, "Derek, the Gary Clark you're referring to is dangerous. I'm coming with you, as you will need more people to take him down," Owen tended to call his detectives' by their last names, unless something was serious.

At that moment, Callie and Arizona walked into the squad room, asking the same thing Owen did. Derek gave them the same response he gave Owen and Arizona said, "We need to find her now because Clark is possibly armed and dangerous. He is capable of a lot of things and none of them are good. Back when I was in SVU, he showed up as our perp at least two or three times and the fact he was able to get away from us every time only heightens how dangerous all of this is."

Owen nodded and led the detectives into a squad car as he drove to Clark's apartment, possibly speeding. "_Thank God that cops can speed_," he thought.

-YAIH-

Owen parked the car and Derek, Callie, Arizona and him got out, drawing their guns instantly.

As this was going on, Clark had walked into where Meredith was, drawing his own gun. "Well well Detective Grey, I see you found some backup. It doesn't matter, you're still going to die anyway," cocking the gun and pointing at her.

"Guys, I hear something," Callie said, leaning toward the wall.

"He's got a gun," Owen said, motioning for his detectives to go into a huddle, whispering, "Go in there quietly. If we spook him, he will shoot Meredith." Callie, Arizona and Derek nodded and walked in the room, Owen not far behind.

"Drop your guns! If you don't drop them, _then the bitch dies_." Clark said, pointing the gun at Meredith's chest and grabbing her by the hair, lifting her head upward.

Callie and Arizona complied while Derek's gun remained drawn. He motioned for Owen to sneak behind Clark and collar him. Owen nodded and stepped toward Clark, ready to make the arrest, but he stepped back once he noticed Clark's gun being pointed at him. He motioned for Callie and Arizona to double team Clark and go with Derek's sneak attack plan. Callie and Arizona walked forward, not realizing that Clark had stopped pointing his gun at Owen and was pointing it at Derek. Clark chuckled to himself saying, "You know, Detective Shepherd, Walt and I noticed that same look you have in your eyes we saw the day we killed your father."

"You son of a bitch," Derek said, standing there frozen, not even noticing that the gun was again being pointed at Meredith. Finally speaking, he said, "You killed my father and now you're about to kill my girlfriend."

"I guess that means you would mind if I pulled the trigger right about now. Detective Shepherd, if you think this has a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention." Clark replied, referring to _Game of Thrones_ while still pointing the gun at Meredith before firing a point-blank shot into her chest, close to her heart.

"_No," _Derek screamed, as Owen untied Meredith and checked for an exit wound saying, "Callie, call an ambulance _now_." The Latina nodded and dialed 911 quickly.

"Shepherd! Derek, I need your help. My arm isn't strong enough to keep doing this and I need your help or Meredith is going to die. The bullet wasn't through and through," was all Derek needed to hear from his friend, before he jumped in and started more CPR on Meredith, and even continued even after Clark said, "Stop reviving her or I swear to God, I will shoot you too like I shot your father and took his watch," until the paramedics arrived. Before they wheeled Meredith away, he kissed her on the forehead saying, "I love you, stay strong for me. I'll be there as soon as I can."

After the paramedics left, Derek stood where he was frozen, staring at Clark, before he picked up his gun, pointed it at Clark and shot a bullet into his chest, before realizing that Clark was conveniently wearing a bulletproof vest. "What are you going to do now, since you can't shoot me?" he asked.

"_This_," Derek said, punching Clark in the jaw, knocking him to the ground, remembering the day he first met Meredith.

A kick to the chest, remembering the night he took her home from Joe's, when she was drunk.

A kick to the head, remembering the night he told Meredith he loved her for the first time.

A kick to the stomach, remembering the first time they made love in his trailer while it was raining.

A kick to the throat, remembering a few hours earlier when he was about to propose to her, until Meredith was kidnapped.

He continued kicking Clark until Callie and Arizona grabbed him and pulled him away from Clark. He heard Arizona faintly saying, "Derek, he's dead." Derek nodded and numbly followed Callie and Arizona out the door and Callie drove them to the hospital as fast as she could.

-YAIH-

By time they got to the hospital, Mark was standing in the waiting room, waiting for them, not even bothering to ask where they were. "Is it true," he said, "About Meredith? Did she actually get shot or did Torres call me here as a joke."

Voice breaking, Derek nodded and said, "It's true," before collapsing in Mark's arms, sobbing. Once he composed himself he asked, "Where is Cristina, considering the fact that her person is in the hospital."

"Still in court and she will be here in a few hours."

Derek nodded and was going to say something else, but Ellis, Thatcher, and Lexie walked into the waiting room, interrupting his thoughts.

As this was going on all Meredith could see was the darkness fading in and noticing a big, white light that she found herself walking into. She blinked and thought; "_Am I dead?" _before realizing that a mask was being put over her mouth until the darkness completely took over.

-YAIH-

After what seemed like years of darkness, Meredith found herself in the light again, this time hearing the faint sounds of the opening of Let Love In playing as she walked through what seemed like a hallway of memories of her and Derek of when they first met, their first date, meeting the Shepherd's and everything that they had been through throughout the past seven months.

Then she saw a light blinding her as it closed in on her. "Please," she tried to say, but the light kept closing in, until the darkness faded in again.

-YAIH-

Meanwhile in the waiting room, Thatcher, Ellis and Lexie had just shown up. Ellis walked over to Derek and slapped him, "That's what you get for possibly killing my daughter," jabbing him in the chest with her index finger.

"_I deserved that_," Derek thought, sitting next to Lexie.

"Hey Lex," he said, trying to be friendly.

"Hey," she said, lowering her voice, "You didn't deserve that slap and just ignore my mom; she's really upset right now."

Derek nodded, "How are you and Mark."

Lexie smiled, "We're good. The long distance thing sucks, but in a few months I'll be living closer at Harvard so we'll be able to see each more. I'm trying to think happy thoughts like the night Mark told me he loved me for the first time.

-YAIH-

_A few months earlier, Lexie was in Boston, sitting in her room watching TV, wishing Mark was there and not a four hour drive away. It was a Sunday night and if school wasn't the next day, she would have driven down there to see him, she missed him that much. She thought she had heard rocks hit her window, only to find it was just a branch and not Mark standing out there like he did the previous night. Her mind flashed back to the previous night as she glanced at the flowers in a vase on her dresser and the diamond bracelet on her wrist._

_Lexie was in her room when she heard rocks hitting her window before she opened it and saw Mark standing outside with a bouquet of flowers. "Mark," she said, opening the window, caught off guard, "What are you doing out there, it's below freezing?"_

"_I came to see you, since I didn't get a chance to do so before you left, so I went out and bought you some flowers and came here," he replied._

"_I would ask you to come up here, but I think my parents are here and they would freak out if they saw you." Lexie said as she remembered that Ellis had gotten called into work and Thatcher was out 'taking care of something' and before she knew it, Mark was in her room, shutting the window behind him. "Never mind they are not here so we're good," she said, kissing Mark. _

_The two kissed for a few seconds before Mark broke the kiss asking, "When are you coming back to New York?"_

"_Not for a couple of months, I think at least once or twice before the end of the school year and I'm coming down there over the summer and I'll be eighteen by then so that means we can be together and it being less weird, unless you kill one of my cousins and end up getting banished from there," Lexie said, referring to Romeo and Juliet. _

"_We are kind of like Romeo and Juliet, except instead of our families hating each other; we are separated by a four hour drive, among other things. Speaking of which, I see Meredith didn't kill you after she caught us together that day."_

"_Yeah and my parents still don't know about us, I plan on telling them on my eighteenth birthday."_

"_Quite the plan you got there, when is your birthday?"_

"_Not until June 18th."_

"_Will you be down there for Valentine's Day weekend?"_

"_I might be; I don't know if I have anything else going on that weekend."_

"_If not then, I'll give you your gift early," Mark said, pulling out a small box. Lexie opened the box, finding a diamond bracelet inside. "Oh My God, I love it," she said, putting it on quickly. "I didn't get you anything, and I feel bad now."_

"_It's okay, you didn't have to."_

"_No, I'll get you something eventually," Lexie said, thinking for a second, before saying, "I guess for now this is your present," walking over to her bed, crawling underneath the blankets, beckoning Mark to join her. Mark crawled in next to her and the two engaged in a passionate kiss._

_-YAIH-_

"_What time is it?" Lexie asked sometime later, not bothering to check her phone._

"_One in the morning, you should probably get to sleep, you have school and I have a four hour drive ahead of me with work on top of that, but before I go, but there is something I have to tell you, I love you, I know we haven't been together for very long and I haven't even taken you out on a date, but I love you, Lexie Grey. Before I met you, I would sleep with any girl with a pulse, but you changed me."_

"_Mark, I love you too, I'll call you sometime tomorrow," Lexie replied, caught off guard yet again. The two kissed again quickly before Mark left. Lexie put the flowers in a vase she took from the kitchen and went to bed with a smile on her face._

Derek half-listened to Lexie's story, still feeling numb, lost in his own thoughts until Mark came over to where he was and said, "Derek, they want to talk to you."

Knowing who the _they_are that Mark mentioned, Derek stood up and walked out of the hospital, surprised to see Owen waiting for him.

"Hunt, what's the problem?"

"Derek, Jennings and I need to speak with you about what happened at Clark's," Owen replied.

-YAIH-

"Shepherd, did you even begin to think about the consequences of what you were doing. Killing a wanted criminal, that is not a good way to go out of the force," Jennings said when Derek first sat down.

"Easy Jennings let him explain himself," Owen calmly said.

Derek cleared his throat and began to speak, "I was on a date with Detective Grey-"

"Hold on, date. You are _dating_ Detective Grey. You do know that is fraternization and against NYPD policy."

"Jennings, that policy hasn't been in effect for months because pretty much no one listened to it," Owen cut in. "Go on, Shepherd."

"As I was saying, Detective Grey and I were on a date and we were walking through the city to Times Square and I was about to ask her to marry me, when Gary Clark grabbed Detective Grey from behind, placing chloroform over her mouth to knock her unconscious. I was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground by one of Clark's henchmen so I couldn't do anything to prevent it."

"How did you find that the person was Clark?"

"He dropped one of the gloves he was wearing. I couldn't see anything because Clark and his henchman were wearing masks at the time. So I picked up the glove, ran it to the crime lab, got Detective Stevens to run it for fingerprints, somehow recruited Hunt, Torres and Robbins for backup and drove to Clark's apartment. We ended up in this room where Grey was, Clark was pointing a gun at her. We tried to talk him down, but to obviously no avail, since Grey is currently comatose.

"Shepherd, that's all I needed to hear from you. I'm suspending you for two weeks. Since you are claiming self-defense for your actions I'm not giving the full month suspension," Jennings said, dismissing Derek.

"Thank you, sir," Derek said, closing the door behind him.

-YAIH-

"So how long are you suspended?" Mark asked, when Derek returned to the hospital.

"Two weeks. Is Meredith out of surgery yet?" Derek replied, sitting down.

"Not yet." Mark started to say before a doctor walked out through the double doors, saying, "Which one of you is Derek Shepherd, Meredith Grey's medical proxy?"

"I am," Derek said, quickly standing up.

"Then can I speak with you in private?"

Derek nodded and followed the doctor, who's named he learned to be Dr. Gibbard into a nearby hallway. "In the surgery, her heart stopped, although we were able to stabilize her. The bullet was able to be removed and she is currently in the ICU and still hasn't woken up, but you can go see her," Gibbard said.

"Can I go see her?" Derek asked.

"Yes, you can. I'll take you down there now," Gibbard said, leading Derek to Meredith's room.

Sitting down, he started to say, "Hey Mer," to his tubed and wire covered girlfriend. "Please wake up, for me, Cristina, Lexie, and everyone who needs you," before tears sprang from his eyes again. "I love you," he said, kissing her on the forehead, before standing up and walking out of the room.

Derek found himself in the waiting room again, repeating the news on Meredith to Thatcher, Ellis and Lexie. Ellis and Lexie responses were both "Thank God," while Thatcher sat there with a blank expression on his face before managing to crack a small smile.

-YAIH-

After another hour or two, Thatcher, Ellis and Lexie had gone to a hotel to get some rest, leaving Derek alone and not leaving Meredith's side. The pattern continued like that into the next week, Derek would practically live at the hospital, while Thatcher, Ellis, Lexie and occasionally Mark, Cristina and Owen would come and go. Meredith was still comatose, but on a Sunday, eight days after the shooting, she felt her eyes slowly open. The fluorescent light blinded her, causing her to blink several times before her eyes opened. She heard the rhythmic beeping of a monitor and the footsteps of someone coming down the hall.

"Ah, you're awake. I need you to do me a favor and start coughing for me, so I can get this tube out of your throat," a person who Meredith assumed to be her doctor asked her.

Meredith began coughing as Gibbard pulled the tube from her throat. When she finished, he asked her, "Do you know where you are and do you remember how you got here?"

"I'm in a hospital and if I remember correctly I was shot because I'm pretty sure that there is bullet wound in my chest," Meredith replied, feeling a substantial amount of pain rush through her body.

"Yes, you were shot, eight days ago today. I should probably introduce myself, my name is Dr. Gibbard and I'm your doctor that's been taking care of you while you were in your coma."

"Meredith Grey, detective at the New York Police Department, nice to meet you."

"Do need me to get anything for you and what's your pain level on a scale of one to ten?"

"Some water and about a seven."

"Ok, and before I go, is that man who is your medical proxy happen to be your significant other because while you were comatose, he practically lived here and was at your bedside when any other people weren't here."

"Yes, he's my boyfriend and partner at the NYPD, which is how we meant seven months ago."

"Well he is here to see you," Dr. Gibbard said, walking out the door.

Meredith laid her head back on the pillow when she heard footsteps in the hallway again. "Meredith," the voice, which she recognized as Derek said. "You're awake." Derek walked over to her bed and hugged her, "I'm so sorry for everything that I did."

"_Derek Christopher Shepherd_, this was not your fault. Even with the most precautionary measures, you wouldn't have been able to stop this from happening. Clark was the person that was leaving me those calls, so he had a plan in motion, which we didn't catch until it was too late."

Derek looked Meredith directly in the eyes, "I love you Meredith Grey."

"I love you too, Derek Shepherd."

**End of Part One**

**I'm updating a day earlier because I'm busy all day tomorrow and I don't wait to make you guys wait until Friday. If you think being shot is the worst it gets for Meredith, it's not; this trauma conga line is not over yet, but she will get her happy ending. After this chapter the direction of this story changes and I'm warning you, you guys are not going to like what comes next. Leave a review because I'm pretty sure that you have a lot to say about this chapter, while I go live under a rock with Patrick Star. Next week is the beginning of part two and it picks up three months later. Oh, and if your confused about who Walt White is, by the end of part two you will know.**

**Love you all**

**Kate**


	13. Everything Has Changed

Everything Has Changed

September- Three months later

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy. That is firmly in the clutches of Shonda and ABC.**

**AN: Here we are, part two. It's along with most of part two is a pretty heavy read. It deals a lot with tension between Meredith and Derek and Meredith's PSTD from her shooting. **

The ropes dug into the skin on Meredith's legs, restricting circulation as Gary Clark laughed menacingly at her before saying, "If you think this has a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention," before shooting Derek in the head and before she could scream, her in the chest. Meredith's eyes fluttered open as she sat upright in her bed. Sighing, "So much for sleeping tonight," as she rolled over and closed her eyes. These nightmares have been going on ever since she had gotten home from the hospital two months ago, a month after her shooting and usually once she was woken from one, she could not fall back asleep no matter how hard she tried.

After an hour of trying to fall back asleep, Meredith gave up and went downstairs to get some water. "Another nightmare?" said a voice from behind her, causing her to jump.

Meredith sighed and turned around seeing Derek behind her, "God, Derek. You scared the shit out me. Don't sneak up on me like that," as she took a sip of water.

"Is that water or tequila?" Derek asked.

"It's water, Derek. I haven't had a drink all day. As for me passing off tequila as water, God, that was one time."

Derek hoped to change the subject, "Any chance that you will be coming back to work?"

Meredith sighed, "I don't know. Hunt said he's waiting on me to be medically cleared and even after that, I think I'm still stuck on desk duty."

Derek sent his girlfriend a reassuring glance, "Desk duty's not that bad and you're going to all of your physical therapy sessions. Gibbard said that the bullet didn't do a whole lot of damage."

Meredith nodded, sighing, "Look, I'm tired and I only got three hours of sleep before the nightmare started. You should come to bed, unlike me you have to work tomorrow."

"I'll be there in a few minutes, just let me shut down my laptop and brush my teeth. I was working on this case," Derek said, closing out of the article he was reading, "_Signs of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder in Police Officers_" and pressing shut down on his desktop. After brushing his teeth, he walked into their bedroom, pulled the blankets back and slowly drifted off to sleep, Meredith tossing and turning next to him.

Derek wrapped one of his arms around Meredith's waist, the other one stroking her hair, whispering, "Shh, I'm here."

"Get off of me!" Meredith screamed.

"Meredith-" Derek started to say, before he realized "_She thinks I'm Clark_." "Meredith, it's me, Derek. I would never hurt you."

"Please don't hurt me," she whispered.

The brokenness in her voice caught Derek off guard, "Meredith," he solemnly whispered, as a familiar pang of guilt coursed through his veins. Derek sighed and walked out the bedroom door and made a bed for himself on the couch. "_Maybe moving in together was not the best decision_," he thought as he remembered the day he agreed to move in with her.

-YAIH-

It was almost a month after the shooting. Meredith was due to be released from the hospital in the next couple of days. Derek had gotten off his shift a half hour earlier to go see Meredith before visiting hours ended. He had been there that morning and Lexie was there that afternoon and was still there when he walked back in. "Hey," he said, kissing Meredith on the forehead.

Meredith smiled, "Hey, how was work."

"It was good. Although, if you were there it would be way better," Derek replied.

"Come on, working with Mark is not that bad. At least you guys aren't fighting anymore."

"You're right. At least things between him and Lexie are good because if they weren't, he would be flirting with any girl he sees."

"I'm still here, Derek," Lexie piped up, hitting Derek on the arm, not wanting to be reminded of her boyfriend's manwhorish past.

"And Mom and Dad are still pretty pissed about you two. I know that because I saw her today, Dad had to go back to Boston to 'take care of something for work' which according to you means go to the liquor store, even though there is one not too far from here."

"I'm eighteen now, so I'm technically an adult."

Meredith mock gasped, "Really, you don't act like it half the time."

Lexie rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her sister, "I'll leave you two alone. Mark and I are going out to dinner anyway."

After Lexie left, Meredith adjusted her position on her bed, "Lexie mentioned that despite the fact she's living closer while she's at Harvard, she's can't be with me all the time, so I was thinking that you could move in with me. I know we haven't been together a year yet, but I think we're at the step and you pretty much lived at my house, before all this happened"

Derek thought for a second, "I would love too. Living with you is better than living in a trailer anyway," kissing Meredith softly on the lips. He got on top of her and deepened the kiss, before Meredith winced and pulled back. "Sorry, was I hurting you?" he asked.

"To be honest, you were a little bit. A bullet to the chest can to that to you."

"The last thing I want to do is to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me, Derek, Gary Clark did."

A silence fell over the room, until Derek said, "I'll move my stuff in tomorrow, so it will be all ready when you come home and you don't need to unpack anything."

Meredith smiled, "Sounds great," before kissing Derek again.

-YAIH-

"Meredith, I have to go to work now. Lexie said she'll be here sometime later today," Derek told Meredith the next morning, receiving no response. "Meredith, are you here?" noticing that she was in a trance like state

Meredith instantly snapped out of her trance, "Yes, Derek, I'm living and breathing just like anyone else who is alive."

"Did you hear anything I said?"

"Yes, you are leaving and Lexie's coming by later. God, Derek, I'm not fucking deaf," Meredith snapped. She sighed, "I'm sorry. Last night was a rough night."

The only thing that Derek could say was, "I know, I'll call you later."

-YAIH-

"That bad, huh," Mark said, when Derek told him about the night before and that morning.

"Seriously Mark, I think she has PSTD. I mean she hits all the signs. Nightmares, insomnia, irritability to name a few," Derek replied.

"How long has it been going on?"

"A couple of months, ever since she got home."

Mark looked confused, "And you're just now looking and seeing if she has PSTD."

"I know. I should have protected her and none of this would have happened. I was going to ask her to marry me that night."

"Whoa, you never told me that part." Derek sent Mark a glance, "Oh yeah, the Addison thing."

"Yeah, the Addison thing," Derek muttered, noticing Meredith walk over to Owen's office. "I wonder what she's doing here."

-YAIH-

"Good morning, Detective Grey," Owen said, when Meredith walked into his office.

"Good morning, Captain Hunt. Are you going to tell me why you called me in here on such short notice." she replied, sitting down.

"This morning, I got your medical reports and they say that you can come back to work sometime within the next couple weeks."

Meredith smiled, "Really, that's great. "Is it true that I'm stuck on desk duty," her smile fading.

"Yes, but its only until your physical therapist clears you. I don't make the rules, I just enforce them."

"Oh, I'm not complaining. I want to get back to work. I miss it here. Thanks again, Hunt."

"Anytime Grey. I'm happy that you're coming back," Owen said, as Meredith walked out of his office.

"Meredith, what are you doing here?" Derek asked, seeing his girlfriend come out of Owen's office.

"Hunt said that my medical reports came in, but he's still waiting to hear from my physical therapist, so I'm on desk duty until then. He said I can come back sometime within the next couple of weeks," Meredith replied.

Derek smiled, "I'm excited," Mark glanced at Derek as if to say, 'I'm standing right here.' Derek noticed, "No offense, Mark."

"None taken. All you ever talk about is how much you miss working with her."

Meredith smiled, "Since I'm not cleared to drive yet, Lexie drove me here and she is still waiting outside, so I have to go. I'll see you at home," before kissing Derek and walking out the door.

"Do you think she's ready to come back?" Mark asked his friend.

Derek shook his head, "Honestly, no."

-YAIH-

Three days later, Meredith's physical therapist cleared her and she was relived of desk duty.

"Meredith, we've got a hostage situation to deal with. Are you sure you want to go? The guy's armed and-" Derek started to say before Meredith cut him off, "Derek, I'll be fine. It's my first day back from desk duty, so stop treating me like I'm a child."

"I'm just looking out for you."

"Derek, I'm fine."

Not wanting to start a fight, Derek sighed and drove the squad car to the house where the hostages were being held.

-YAIH-

The person that was holding people hostage was Jesse Campbell. Campbell was an upstart drug dealer who was holding his wife and young son hostage after they discovered his drug dealing.

Derek parked the car and ran into the house, Meredith not far behind. The two of them drew their guns, as Derek knocked on the door, "NYPD, open up!" receiving no response. After taking a deep breath, he kicked the door off of its hinges, causing it to fall forward. Derek walked into the house, Meredith not far behind him as they heard voices in the living room yelling. The two of them walked into the room, seeing Campbell pointing a gun at his wife. "If any of you take another step, I'll shoot," Campbell said.

"Come on, Campbell. You, your wife and son have your whole lives ahead of you. Don't waste them on a moment of anger," Derek calmly said.

Campbell slowly put the gun down before a thought crossed his face. He then picked up the gun and shot it in the air, causing Meredith to freeze as Gary Clark's voice repeatedly came into her head, "If you think this has a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention," and the gun going off.

-YAIH-

After taking care of Campbell, Derek went in search of Meredith. He found her in a closet hyperventilating, "I don't... I can't, I can't, I don't...I don't... I can't. I don't want...I don't want my mother to die alone."  
Derek sat down to next to her and grabbed a plastic bag, "Slow down. Just slow down. Shh. Slow deep breaths now. Slow deep breaths. Slow down. Slow down. Just breathe in the bag."  
After a few minutes, Meredith calmed down, "I'm okay. Thank you. I'm sorry for being such a bitch lately, constantly yelling at you. I just have had really bad flashbacks from the shooting lately."  
"Its okay and you're welcome."

-YAIH-

Derek knocked on Owen's office door. Owen looked up from his paperwork, "What is it, Shepherd?"

"I need the names of some therapists we can recommend Meredith to," Derek replied.

"Why would that be the case?"

"I live with her and I've noticed that she's been showing signs of PTSD. Nightmares, flashbacks, insomnia to name a few and today she had a panic attack after our perp pulled out a gun and it went off."

"I could give you some names, but that would require her to take a leave of absence because of her PSTD. I could give you the one I used to go to when I got back from Iraq. Her name is Dr. Wyatt and she works with veterans, firefighters and police officers with PSTD."

"You were in Iraq and as for Meredith having to take a leave of absence is that NYPD policy?"

Owen nodded, "As much as I wish I could have Grey stay on while she's getting help, she can't. Yes, I served in Iraq for a couple of years along with ADA Altman, which is how I ended up with the injury to my arm, which later ended up as PSTD. Anyway, can you send her in here so I can talk to her?"

Derek nodded and walked out of Owen's office, "Thank you Hunt."

"Anytime Shepherd."

-YAIH-

Meredith walked into Owen's office, "Meredith, I was just informed of your panic attack and possible signs of PSTD. I called you in here to recommend you to some therapists. Although, that you require you to take a leave of absence while you're seeking help."

Meredith nodded, "Normally, I would protest because of my personal dislike for therapists, but I want these nightmares and flashbacks to stop and I want to sleep normally again. At this point, whatever it takes I will do it, even if it means taking some time off of work."

"Ok, I'll set you up with Dr. Wyatt. She's also my therapist and she helped me out tremendously after I came back from Iraq."

Meredith nodded and handed Owen her badge and gun, "I guess I won't need these for a while."

-YAIH-

"Shepherd, before you leave I would like you to meet your new temporary partner, Rose Pierce from Narcotics. You two will be working together starting tomorrow," Owen said.

Rose smiled, "Nice to meet you, Detective Shepherd," offering her hand for him to shake.

Derek shook her hand, "You too, Detective Pierce."

-YAIH-

After meeting Rose, Derek went home and noticed Meredith sleeping in their bed. He quietly went over to their dresser drawer and dug through a pile of clothes to find her engagement ring. He opened the box and closed it, like he had done so many times before over the last three months. Sighing, Derek hid the box again and closed the drawer before crawling into bed.

-YAIH-

**AN: And so part two begins and because of Thursday being Independence Day, I'm posting early. I know that everyone (myself included) is waiting for Derek to propose, but I can promise you that it will happen at the end of part two along with the shocking reveal and the story's climax. Next chapter: Meredith sees Dr. Wyatt and Rose stirs up trouble between Meredith and Derek.**

**Love you all**

**Kate**


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